First entering politics in 1945, Brentano helped found the Christian Democratic Union of Hesse and was subsequently elected president of the national organization committee of the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) coalition. After serving in the provisional assembly that drafted the constitution of the new republic, he was elected to the first federal Bundestag (lower house of parliament) in August 1949. From 1949 to 1955 and again from 1961 to 1964, he was parliamentary leader of his party. A dedicated internationalist, he served through 1952–53 as president of the six-nation Schuman Plan committee charged with drafting a constitution for a proposed European federation—the future Common Market. Named foreign minister under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in June 1955, he followed a policy of cooperation with France and opposition to the Soviet Union.

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